Traction-engine



(No Model.)

I. O. GRAY.- TRACTION ENGINE,

No. 495,182. Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

UNITE STATES ISAAC CLINTON GRAY, OF ILION, INDIANA.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,182, dated April 11, 1893.-

Application filed November 7,1892. $en'al No. 451,211. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ISAAC CLINTON GRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ilion, in the county of Marshall and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Frictional Gears or Clutches for Traction-Engines and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has relation to improvements in frictional gear for traction engines and it consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of the same,whereby the operator may have absolute control over the engine, and whereby the speed may be increased or decreased and regulated as may be desired, all as will be hereinafter fully explained and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

The annexed drawings, to which reference is made fully illustrate my invention, in which- Figure 1, represents a plan view of my improved frictional gear or clutch, showing the concavo convex disk in longitudinal section and Fig. 2, is a side view of the same, showing the fly wheel shaft, in cross section.

Referring by letterto the accompanying drawings A, designates a portion of an engine-boiler to which my improvement is attached.

B, represents a fly wheel shaft which is arranged transversely above the boiler and has its end bearing in journal boxes at, a, which are firmly secured to the boiler. Arranged upon this transverse shaft is a disk 0, which is concavo-convex, the hub 19 of which is keyed to said shaft to prevent it from revolving independently of said shaft but at the same time said disk has a free longitudinal movement on the shaft for a purpose presently explained.

D, indicates a shaft which has its end I) supported in journal bearing or box 0 secured to the boiler while its other end 0 has its end bearing in the box a. The intermediate portion 0 of this shaft has its bearing in a journal box d on the standard or support 61 secured to the boiler. At the forward end of the shaft D, is a longitudinally sliding bevel friction Wheel 6, formed with an annular groove in its hub, as shown, in which engages the forked upper end 6' of shifting-arm e fulcrumed at its lower end on the boiler, as at a A rod f, is pivoted at its forward end as at f, to the arm aforesaid, while the other end f is pivoted to a hand lever E, as at g, which lever is in turn fulcrumed at g, to a rack bar It secured to the boiler.

The shaft D, is provided with a beveled gear wheel h designed to mesh with beveled gear wheel, (not shown on the drawings) usually applied to traction engines, and intermediate of this shaft is a second beveled gear wheel k which meshes with a similar wheel h on the rear end of a short shaft M, which latter has its end bearing as at t, in the journal box 7; on the support d, and its opposite end is supported in a bearing 6 in the standard b secured to the engine as shown inFig. 1. On the forward end of this short shaft 72 is a beveled friction wheel 6 and is of similar construction to the beveled wheel e on the long .shaft D; the only difference being that the bevels of each wheel are reversed to one another, and are each arranged on either side and close to the concavo-convex disk.

F designates a lever which is pivoted at j, to a standard j on the engine; the extreme end j of which is pivoted at 7' to a short arm is, that is connected at its opposite end to the hub k of the beveled wheel e the handle portion Z, of this lever F, engages a rack 1 secured to the boiler as shown in the drawings.

To shift the bevel wheel e longitudinally on its shaft, and maintain its relation to the wheel 6, in their position on the disk 0, the shifting-arm 6 has a laterally extended arm b forked to engage a groove 17 in the hub of the bevel wheel a, so thatwhen the lever E, is moved the bevel wheels are correspondingly shifted on their shafts and placed either closer to or farther from the position thereon regulating the speed of the connected mechanism. The shaft if has a lateral swing or play in its bearing '1; on the boiler in order that the other end may be moved laterally to permit the adjustments longitudinally of both bevel wheels and that the disk may accommodate itself to the changed positions of the wheels when again brought into operative contact with it.

Having thus described the different parts of my improved frictional gear or clutch and the connection of the parts thereof with one another I will now describe the operation of the same.

It will be observed that the concave convex disk, in cross section, tapers from the hub thereof outwardly to the periphery of the disk, thus providing an inclined surface, both front and rear of the same, for the action thereon of the two beveled wheels, heretofore mentioned.

The operation of my device is as follows: The shaft h with the wheel 6 carried by it is moved laterally through theinstrumentality of the lever F, and the friction contact with the disk being thus released, the bevel wheels can be moved longitudinally on the shafts by the lever E, and the position on the disk regulates the speed of the disk accordingly, and when this position is attained the lever F, can be used to push the wheel 6 in contact to grasp the disk between the disks, and by the frictional contact be turned by the line shaft over the boiler carrying the disk. It will be observed that when the lever F, is loose the disk will not turn, therefore the connected mechanism may be stopped without Stopping the engine; and that by the regulation or adjustment. of the bevel wheels the speed may be adjusted at any time without slowing up or increasing the speed of the engine. 7

WVhat I claim is The herein described friction gear or clutch consisting of the short and long shafts each provided at its forward end with a beveled wheel in reversed positions, the same provided with the gear wheels 7?, 71, and gear wheel h on the rear end of the long shaft, the disk 0, of concavo-convex form, tapering from its hub outwardly to the periphery thereof and arranged between the two beveled wheels and adapted to slide upon the shaft, the latter supported in journal bearing upon the engine; the forked arm, its connecting rod and lever and rack, and the long lever pivoted to the standard and pivotally connected to the hub of the beveled wheel by the short arm 70, all substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC CLINTON GRAY.

Witnesses:

ELMER M. EDDINGER, PHILIP I-I. BOWMAN. 

